The Who - Face Dances

Digitally remastered Japanese reissue of The Who's 1981 album in a miniaturized LP sleeve with the original pac kaging intact. Limited to the initial pressing only, it also features all five of the bonus tracks included on MCA's U. S. reissue in the '90s! The extra cuts are 'I Like Nightmares', 'It's In You', 'Somebody Saved Me', 'How Can You Do It Alone' (Live) and 'The Quiet One' (Live). 14 tracks total. 1999 reissue of 1997 reissue. Album Description

Top of the Pops

With a return to the 1960s pop sound, the band delivered a classic - You Better You Bet - while working within a framework to allow drummer Kenney Jones to shine.

Daily Records, Don't Let Go the Coat and Another Tricky Day have very appealing hooks, with Cache Cache paced by a bouncy beat. The all-out rocker is John Entwistle's The Quiet One, with How Can You Do It Alone delivering an edginess through Roger Daltrey's lyrical interpretation.

Peaking at #4 on the U.S. album chart, this March 1981 release is bolstered by five bonus tracks. The album demonstrates the art in crafting quality pop music and is an oftentimes overlooked gem in the band's amazing catalog.

August 11, 2008

The Who - Decent Album, But Average By Who Standards

The Who went on a three year hiatus after the death of drummer Keith Moon, but eventually re-grouped with former Faces drummer Kenny Jones being added as the new member of the band. The result was "Face Dances" an album that is very average by Who standards. The album was produced by Bill Symczyk who is probably best known as the producer behind The Eagles string of successful albums in the 70's and early 80's. Kind of an odd choice and his effect is definitely felt on this album. "Face Dances" produced one of the band's best singles in the opening track "You Better You Bet", and there are a few other highlights like "Did You Steel My Money", and "Another Tricky Day", but the album also has clunkers like "Cache Cache" and "Daily Records" here too. John Entwistle contributes two songs with his autobiographical "The Quiet One" as a rocking album highlight. "Face Dances" is a decent enough Who album and worth owning for fans, but for a band with the legacy that this one has the album is simply average. July 8, 2008

Unfairly Maligned

I love this album. That may have something to do with the fact that it was the first Who album I ever bought (I was 14). But I also think the songs are great. They remind me a bit of the mid-sixties "Pop Who" as they bounce, snip and snipe. Kenney Jones does a fine job, and it's unfortunate that he's gotten so much flack for accepting the bands offer to join. Of course he's not Keith Moon! No one is.
The only issue I have with this album is in the production. If they'd taken off even just a bit of the gloss it would have made a vast improvement I think. There's something a bit flat about the production. Though Bill Symczek (or however you spell his name) shouldn't necessarily take the blame either. The Who must have been familiar with his work - and for California rock such as The Eagles his production worked - but for The Who not so much. The band chose him though, so it's on their shoulders. Still though, I consider this a very underrated album. Songs like Don't Let Go The Coat, Another Tricky Day, You Better You Bet, and Entwistle's The Quiet One. There's a lot of humor to much of the material as well. It's the Who getting back to the more Pop approach they'd had early in their career. If the production hadn't taken the balls away from the sound then I think fans would have been more forgiving. Anyway, great album cover too! Enjoy! July 1, 2008

Several moments here, but not worth your time really

I love The Who. It's fair to say that I am a Who collector. Their music is some of the finest ever made, and it's for that reason that the group made it to the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame.

Take yourself back to 1979. Keith Moon has just died. John Bonham would follow Moon to the grave pretty quickly afterwards. The situation? Zeppelin and The Who were left "drummerless." The Who fixed their problem by adding former (Small) Faces drummer Kenney Jones, while Led Zeppelin pulled the plug on their group entirely.

'You Better You Bet,' of course, got the most radio play from 'Face Dances,' which joins 'It's Hard' in the worst Who record category. The song is catchy, but other than that, there is really no other reason to listen to this.

It's more of Townshend's synth-pop with Roger and John just simply playing along. This type of music would inspire Pete to do songs like 'Let My Love Open The Door,' among other songs of his in the 1980s during his solo career.

This is recommended, but only for Who completists or Townshend solo fans. April 26, 2008

Downward Spiral

With 64 reviews already registered there's not much more to add but to chime in that although devoted Who fans will consume just about anything the band does, this is a Who album you can readily ignore unless you have the rest of their catalog. A couple of decent songs here, with the rest of the album filler. I eventually sent my copy to the used bins. January 2, 2008

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